Street names in Bridwater, starting with the letter ‘B’.
Back Lane: see Clare Street
Back Quay: See Binford Place
Bagborough Drive: Part of the Wills Road ‘Quantock View’ Estate, which was being built from at least 1986 onwards (see Wills Road). Unknown significance. Many of the roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater civic leaders.
Bailey Street: Built by the time of the 1904 OS Map. Originally Bailey Street was just the northern part of this road up to the bend, south of which was known as Upper Rosebury Avenue. Seems to be named after a junction on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, the terminal station being nearby, now under Sainsbury’s Supermarket (with thanks to Laura Bailey). Built around a shirt collar factory, now the site of Albion Street. A local story has it that Bailey Street is believed to be when they built sections for Bailey Bridges in Bridgwater during World War Two, although the existence of the street on earlier OS maps would count against this (MS).
Ball’s Lane: See King Street
Balmoral Drive: Modern Little Sydenham Estate, post 2006 – date TBC. Little apparent significance: just a pleasing name to sound grand. Named after the Royal Palace in Scotland.
Barberry Drive: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Barclay Street: Named after Robert Barclay (1648-1690), a Scot and leading thinker of the Quaker movement. Named on account of the land being owned by a notable Quaker charity of Bristol. Laid out circa 1833 (see Somerset Heritage Centre DD/SC/G1393/350). Partially demolished for the Broadway by 1967 (C/GP/HF/222). Sometimes spelled Berekely Street (see, for example, Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 24 September 1845).
Barrows Close: First appears on the 1978 Town Guide Plan. The roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater individuals, this one refers to a former farmer, whose farm was situated where the Wilstock Garden’s Childcare centre now stands (with thanks to Laura Bailey).
Bath Bridge Road: Mentioned in the 1881 census, between Union Street and Sydenham Terrace. Possibly an alternate name for Bath Road, or what is now Lower Bath Road. On the north side of the junction of Union Street and Bath Road was the Bath Bridge Inn. (with thanks to Gill Tretheway).
*Bath Road: with Monmouth Street, this is a very old causeway over the marshes to the Polden Hills, and called as such, probably at the time Bristol Road was built, because Bath would be the major destination for the route. Dates to at least the year 1200 and the establishment of Bridgwater as a town, possibly older. A large loop in the River Parrett went almost as far as Crandon Bridge, hence this route pre-dates the Bristol Road by some centuries. The original course of this road, before the construction of the railway bridge, is outlined by Lower Bath Road.
Bathroad Place: See Cannon Close.
Bath Terrace: A row of cottages running off of the north side of Eastover. Appears on the 1888 OS Town Plan. Name of unclear significance, either named after the owner/builder, the town of Bath, or a bathhouse. Still standing on the 1930s OS map and 1946 RAF photographic survey.
Bathing Place: a rectangle of land to the south of the Durleigh Brook, in the south east corner of St Matthew’s Field. Named as this was once a popular spot to bath in the Durleigh Brook. The 1840s Tithe Apportionment Map described the plot as ‘cottages and gardens’, which indicates the surviving buildings were presumably built by then. Four cottages are shown on the c.1854 Town Plan, and in more detail with outbuildings on the 1889 OS Town Plan. (With thanks to Peter Randle) Called ‘In the Bath’ in the 1841 census, then Bathing Buildings in the 1851 census (with thanks to Clare Spicer).
Bayford Road: Not on 1939 Town Guide plan. Shown under construction on the 1946 RAF aerial photographic survey. Complete by 1953 (BFA: EAW051177).Name of unknown significance.
Bayswater Drive: Modern Little Sydenham Estate, post 2006 – date TBC. Little apparent significance: just a pleasing name to sound grand: named after a fancy part of London. Built over a field called Lower Blind Yeo (TAM), suggesting that this was the site of a silted up tributary or course of the Parrett – Yeo being a common river name, blind meaning it came to a dead end.
+Beam Wireless Station: Refers to the Chop Beam Wireless Station, an early twentieth century Marconi site at Huntworth. The structures housing the generators, transmission room etc were converted to housing and are still there. The Imperial wireless chain was a strategic international wireless telegraph communication network, linking the countries of the British Empire. Between 1929 and 1940 the Huntworth Beam wireless station received high-frequency communications from Drummondville in Quebec, in Canada, and Kliphevel, (now Klipheuwel), Cape town in South Africa. It worked with the transmitter station in Bodmin. The beam antenna for the wireless station was almost half a mile long and consisted of a series of five 277ft lattice masts, erected in a line at 640ft apart and at right angles to the overseas receiving station. These were topped by a traverse from which hung a curtain antenna. Although the site has long been closed and all equipment was removed, the object is remembered in the naming of 5 properties in the village which housed it as Beam Wireless cottages.
Beckworth Close: (Late 20th c Westonzoyland Road development – date TBC) Unknown significance.
Bedford Close: (Late 20th c Westonzoyland Road development – date TBC) Unknown significance.
Beech Drive: (late 20th c. Bower development – date TBC) One of a series of streets in a development, each named after trees types.
Beech Road: (late 20th c. Bower development – date TBC) One of a series of streets in a development, each named after trees types.
Beechwood: Built over part of the grounds of Sunnybank House. Name of unknown significance, although likely to refer to trees. Shown under construction on the 1946 RAF aerial photographic survey.
Begonia Drive: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Belgravia Drive: Modern Little Sydenham Estate, post 2006 – date TBC. Little apparent significance: just a pleasing name to sound grand. Named after a fancy part of London.
Bell Close: Part of the Sully’s/ Crowpill Coal Yard redevelopment – completed in December 1996 (with thanks to Deborah Crighton). Named after a family of mariners: seven Bell brothers all captained vessels owned by the G.B. Sulley’s company of coal merchants. The brothers were: Charles Bell (born 1850), John George Bell (born 1852), George Bell(born 1854), William Bell (born 1856, died 1927), James Bell (born 1858), Alfred Edward Bell (born 1864) and Henry Bell. They all lived in Barclay Street. One of the Bell captains, probably Alfred Edward Bell, painted oils and watercolours of their vessels. George Bell, grandson of Captain William Bell, was later headmaster of Eastover School (with thanks to Georgina Edwards & Molly Warren)
Bell Lane: See Moat Lane
Bellis Avenue: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Belmont Close Part of the cooperative housing state: built between the 1972 and 1974 Town Guide plans. Unknown significance. Belmont just means pretty hill,
Belmont Court: Post 2006 Stockmoor Estate, date TBC. Name of unclear significance, presumably just a nice sounding word.
Berekely Street: this name appears in several mid-nineteenth century newspaper reports concerning the St John Street area – most likely a confusion with Barclay Street.
Berry Close: Part of the Wills Road ‘Quantock View’ Estate, which was being built from at least 1986 onwards (see Wills Road). Many of the roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater civic leaders. Possibly Robert Seymore Berry, vicar of St Mary’s, who drowned in 1930 and is buried in the Wembdon Road Cemetery. More likely to be Samuel Berry, Mayor of Bridgwater 1919, 1920 and 1921 (with thanks to Laura Bailey).
Berrydale Avenue: Part of the 1930s Kendale ‘Newtown’ development. First appears on the 1931 Town Guide Plan. Significance unknown. Roman coin found here in 1958. Built by the 1937 Whitby Directory.
Biddiscombe Close: Part of the Wills Road ‘Quantock View’ Estate, which was being built from at least 1986 onwards (see Wills Road). Many of the roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater civic leaders. Raymond Biddiscombe was mayor of Bridgwater in 1955 and partner in Biddiscombes Furnuture Shop (with thanks to Laura Bailey and Jenny Abbott).
Bilberry Lane: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Bincombe Road: Part of the Sydenham Estate. Still open fields in 1953 (BFA: EAW051177). Shown on the 1967 Town Guide Plan. Unknown significance – a village in Dorset?
*Binford Place: Named after Binford House, which stood where the Carnegie Library does today. That house was named after William Binford, who purchased it in 1742. Prior to this the street was known as Back Quay (by 1735 and the Stratchey Map at least), as this was a quayside for the loading of barges to take goods up river. Also known as the Langport Quay, as this was the primary destination for the barges (Lawrence). The surviving slipway is known as the Langport Slip. In medieval documents Binford Place was referred to as Frog Lane (by 1260), and this once extended into Blake Gardens as far as the Durleigh Brook, to ‘Lyme Bridge’. Frog Lane was a typical medieval name for somewhere quite wet, for obvious reasons.
Bircham Close: Part of the Cooperative Housing Estate: appears on the 1961 Town Guide Plan. Name of unclear significance: St Mary’s Church had a vicar William Henry Haves Bircham, 1897-1901. Possibly named as such as the access road to this estate was built over the site of the vicarage of St Mary’s, ‘the Grange’? However, Bircham was not an especially significant vicar of the such, unlike his successor Rev. Powell for example.
Blackdown Road: Part of the Sydenham Estate. Still open fields in 1953 (BFA: EAW051177). Shown on the 1967 Town Guide Plan. Refers to the Blackdown Hills, literally the ‘Black Hill Hills’, near Taunton.
Blacklands: Built after the 1887 OS 25″ Town Plan and before the 1901 census, by which time it was well occupied (with thanks to Clare Spicer). Called Blacklands Road on the 1904 Ordinance Survey Map, now just referred to as Blacklands. This street takes its name from the larger set of fields on which it was built, first mentioned in 1325. Literally meaning black soil, possibly the site of an ancient settlement. Originally laid out to connect to Mount Street, and still connected on the 1978 Town Guide Plan.
Blackmore’s Buildings: Court of nine cottages in Market Street. Named on the 1887 OS Town Plan. Seems to be called William’s Buildings in the 1841 Census. Shown on the 1854 Town Plan. Still standing on the 1930 OS Map, unclear if standing on the 1946 RAF survey. Possibly demolished by this time, as no courts are listed on the south side of Market Street in the 1937 Whitby Light and Lane Directory. Presumably named after the builders/owners.
Black Lane: See Axe Road
Blake Parade: See The Avenue
Blake Place: Part of the 1840s St John’s Church development, and named by William Baker, who is buried directly opposite in the corner of the churchyard of St John’s. The land had been purchased by the town with money left to it by General-at-Sea Robert Blake in 1657 as a charity endowment held in trust for the support of the poor. The land, known then as Jacob’s Land was renamed Blake’s Land. This is recorded on a painted panel in St Mary’s Church, a transcription can be found on p. 317 of W. Hepworth Dixon’s Robert Blake Admiral and General at Sea (1852). Who ‘Jacob’ was is unknown. William Hepworth Dixon also claimed responsibility of the name Blake Place (p.318).
*Blake Street: A cul de sac leading from Dampiet Street, and probably once part of it, as Dampiet is a corruption of ‘Dam-yete’, meaning ‘the way to the dam’. The dam would be part of the mill infrastructure at the bottom of Blake Street (Dilks). Also called Mill-Tail, as remembered in the nineteenth century (Metford), ‘tail’ being a reference to a dead-end street. Previously known known as Mill Lane (1735 Stratchey Map), as it led to the town Mill at the Durleigh Brook. By 1861 it had been renamed Blake Street, probably through the influence of George Parker, Bridgwater historian and sometime mayor, who lived in Blake House. That house had belonged to the father (and later brother) of General at Sea Robert Blake (to whom the name is dedicated), assumed to be where Blake was born, and certainly where he grew up, which was bought by the Borough Council in 1926 for the town museum.
Blakes Lane: Wembdon. A very old trackway, named after Blake’s Farm, which takes its named from ownership by a member of the Blake family. Originally a dead end off Hollow Lane, with only a footpath to St George’s Church.
Blakes Road: Wembdon. A mid-to-late 20th century extension to Blake’s Lane (date TBC), to connect it with Church Road, which roughly followed the line of an old footpath. Does not appear on the 1946 RAF photographs. The portion perpendicular to Church Road is older and once part of that road, although appears to be a cottage garden on the 1840s Tithe Apportionment Map – converted to a road by the 1888 OS map, houses built there by 1946.
Blenheim Road: (modern development, date TBC) One of a series of roads in a new estate to be named after historic palaces. Built over a field called ‘Southovers’ on the Tithe Apportionment Map.
Blind Lane: See Albert Street
Bloom Row: Bower development: built around 1993. When the first residents moved in the addresses were “Plot ##, off Myrtle Close, Bridgwater” (with thanks to Dawn Melia Hutter and Mark Gamblin). The name is one of a series of streets in a development, mostly named after trees types and flora.
Bloomsbury Drive: Modern Little Sydenham Estate, post 2006 – date TBC. Little apparent significance: just a pleasing name to sound grand. Named after a fancy part of London.
Blossom Close: A later addition to the Sydenham Estate. Still open fields in 1953 (BFA: EAW051177). The bungalows in Blossom Close were possibly built in the early 1990s. Previously the land here used to be a part of the blocks of flats behind. There used to be a communal laundry there and a path you could go through to make a short–cut between Halsway and Fairfax Road, which came out opposite the Community Centre (with thanks to Dawn Melia Hutter)
Bluebell Drive: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Boards Road: Late 20th century road as part of the Wyld’s Road Industrial area. Built over the line of the former Somerset and Dorset Railway line, built in turn over Castlefields. Presumably named after John Board, nineteenth century industrialist who built the Concrete Castle.
Bond Street: possibly laid out 1720s as part of the Chandos development, although possibly older from the time of the castle. This refers to the town’s Bonded Warehouse, built by Chandos.
Bonita Drive: Post 2009 Jam Factory redevelopment. Some streets on this estate took nautical names associated with the River Parrett. Named after a much loved steam tug that took ships up and down the river. In use from 1866, she could tow up to six vessels. She was sunk off Liverpool in May 1941 by German
aircraft (Reference Index). This is a Spanish word for pretty.
Booth Way: built on part of the Wembdon Levels, on a field previously used by Cyril Moate for his horses. It was originally intended to link into the proposed Northern Distributor Road, although when that was eventually built twenty years later, the two were not joined up. Named in 1981 to mark the Centenary of Bridgwater Salvation Army (with thanks to Erica Elson).
Bosmara Drive: Construction started 2018. Part of the New Market redevelopment, built over the site of the 1935 livestock market. Named after a type of cattle (with thanks to Laura Bailey).
Bouverie Road: The Bouverie family owned Brymore, and a Bouverie was chair of the Bridgwater Poor Law Union from 1838, so in charge of the Northgate Workhouse. More info TF. Brymore Close is a street quite close by. Built over a field called ‘Gundlehays’ (TAP). Appears on the 1930 OS map, so presumably built soon after the Quantock Road.
Bowline Close: NDR development, complete by 2006. Named after a very useful type of knot, complementing the adjoining Haylard Drive (with thanks to Laura Bailey)
Bower Avenue: Part of the Sydenham estate: shown under construction on the 1946 RAF aerial photographic survey. Not on 1939 Town Guide plan. Complete by 1953 (BFA: EAW051177). Refers to nearby East Bower (see below).
Bower Lane: Ancient trackway leading off of the Bath Road (so presumably contemporary or later) heading south towards Dunwear. Refers to East Bower (as opposed to West Bower, near Durleigh). The name derives from the Old English ‘bur’ meaning cottage (Ekwall).
Bowerings Road: First appears on the 1978 Town Guide Plan. Many of the roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater civic leaders. The Bowerings family founded a bakery and grain business at the junction of Penel Orlieu and Friarn Street, and later took over the Oil and Cake Mill at the docks.
Bowling Green: See East Quay
Bradfield Close: Part of the Wills Road ‘Quantock View’ Estate, which was being built from at least 1986 onwards (see Wills Road). Many of the roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater civic leaders. This probably refers to Mayor David Bradfield, stonemason, who died in office in 1914.
Bramble Road: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant very common in this area – the blackberry bush.
Branksome Avenue: Built sometime after 1904 off Bath Road. Abutted the Bailey Street collar factory. Seems to be named after a junction on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, the terminal station being nearby, now under Sainsbury’s Supermarket (with thanks to Laura Bailey).
Bransby Way: Post 2009 Jam Factory redevelopment. Name of unclear significance. Some streets on this estate took nautical names associated with the River Parrett?
Brantwood Road: Wembdon. Built by 1972 (Town Guide, 1972). Possibly riffing on adjoining name ‘Inwood’ (named after a demolished house), presumably named after the home of John Ruskin in Cumbria. Other names in this development had Cumbrian or north western origins, such as Risedale and Grasmere (both Cumbria), Silverdale (Lancashire). Unclear relationship to Wembdon.
Brendon Road: Part of the earlier phase of the Newtown Estate of the 1930s, first appears on the 1931 Town Guide Plan. Named after the Brendon Hills of Exmore, the ‘Brown Hill Hills’ (Ekwall).
Brendon Way: (part of the later extension to the Newtown Estate – date TBC) A later phase of the Newtown Estate, taking its name over Brendon Road. Built over the site of a Ropewalk, which was still standing in 1946, and a field called Dunmead – possibly meaning the ‘hill meadow’.
Brent Terrace: [is this in Bridgwater?] Refers to the nearby village of the same name. Brent is a south-western placename, from the Old Welsh for ‘high place’ (Ekwall).
Breton Close: Post 2006 Stockmoor Estate, date TBC. A Breton is somewhere from Brittany (Little Britain), a Brythonic enclave of France. Although here is possibly a reference to the Bretonne Pie Noir tupe of cow.
Brigg Close: NDR development, complete by 2006. Name of unknown significance. Built over a field called ‘Escott’s Marshes’.
Brimley Grove: Modern Little Sydenham Estate, post 2006 – date TBC. Name of unknown significance. Built over a field called ‘Yonder Thirty Acres, as opposed to ‘Hither Thirty Acres’, presumably in relation to Cockpit Farm. (TAM).
Bristol Road: the way to Bristol. Built 1828-1830 by John Bowen, engineer for the Bridgwater Turnpike Trust (VCH), previously this route having been blocked by a large loop it the River Parrett, which was diverted 1677-8. On the 1886 OS Map, the two terraces were yet to be built: Carlyle Terrace (1-53 Bristol Road) was built on the west and Stanley Terrace on the east (with thanks to Davc Ferris)
Britannia Way: Modern Little Sydenham Estate, post 2006 – date TBC. Little apparent significance: just a pleasing name to sound grand, although there is a slim chance it was named after a ship built on the Parrett in 1831. Built over a field called Lower Blind Yeo (TAM), suggesting that this was the site of a silted up tributary or course of the Parrett – Yeo being a common river name, blind meaning it came to a dead end.
Broadlands Lane: Although now skirting a modern estate, this is an old trackway off of Spaxton Road, which gave access to several fields, including one called ‘Bradland’ on the 1840s Tithe Apportionment Map, the meaning being the broad/open lands. An adjoinging field is called Crosslands, presumably a reference to the adjoining junction of Spaxton Lane and West Bower Road.
Broadoak Road: (late 20th c. Bower development – date TBC) One of a series of streets in a development, each named after trees types. Built over a field called ‘Deacon’s’ on the Tithe Apportionment Map.
Broadway: The Town Centre Bypass, literally the broad way. Construction begun at the junction of St John Street and Eastover in April 1957, opened as far as Taunton Road on 29 March 1958, with the new Blake Bridge. The second stage, as far as the West Street and Penel Olieu, was in progress in 1963 and opened in February 1964. (Blake 2; Squibbs).
Brooklands: Part of the later southern phase of the Sydenham estate. Name of no obvious significance to the area – there does not appear to have been a nearby brook, only rhynes. Still open fields in 1953 (BFA: EAW051177) Shown on the 1967 Town Guide Plan. Built over a field called ‘Moots’ on the 1840s Tithe Apportionment Map, not far from a cottage of the same name on the 1888 OS map. Moots is probably possessive, the land belong to Mr Moot.
Browne’s Cottages: See Canal View
Browne’s Buildings (Taunton Road): See Canal View
Browne’s Buildings (Hamp Ward): A terrace of seven cottages on Hamp Ward, in the south west corner of Browne’s Pond for brick and tile workers. The site of a Rope Walk on the 1840s Tithe Apportionment map, but appear built on the c.1854 Town Plan. Named after the builder and owner, William Browne (1791-1859), a brick and tile merchant (as are Browne’s Pond, Drive, etc). Still standing on the 1946 RAF photographic survey. Unclear when they were demolished – now open ground.
Browne’s Drive: See Elmwood Avenue.
Brue Avenue: Colley Lane Industrial Estate. Laid out circa 1968, complete by 1974 (Town Guides, 1968, 1974) One of a number of roads in this estate to be named after Somerset Rivers. Brue derives from an Old Welsh term for ‘brisk’ (Ekwall).
Bryant’s Buildings: See Sibley’s Buildings.
Bryer Close: Part of the Wills Road ‘Quantock View’ Estate, which was being built from at least 1986 onwards (see Wills Road). Many of the roads on this estate were named after notable Bridgwater civic leaders. Charles Bryer was Mayor of Bridgwater in 1931, 1932 and 1933 (with thanks to Laura Bailey).
Bryer’s Court: Cottages behind 15 and 17 Silver Street, presumably named after the builder or owner. Mentioned in the 1901 Census.
Brymore Close: Modern cul-de-sac, possibly laid out and built in 1950 (Somerset Heritage Centre A/CMY/218). Accessed over part of the old garden of Halesleigh Tower. Refers to a hamlet outside of Cannington. The name means ‘broom covered moor’ (Ekwall)
Buckingham Close: Modern cul-de-sac, possibly 1980s? Presumably refers to the Palace in London.
Bugle Way: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Bullrush Path: Post 2006 Willstock Estate, date TBC. Named after a type of plant.
Bune Villas: NDR development, complete by 2006. Name of unclear significance; Bune appears to be the name of a demon recorded in seventeenth century texts.
Bussell’s Court. A row of around six cottages at the north west end of West Street – the last court on the street. Six cottaged shown on the c.1854 Town Plan. Named with five households in the 1871 census. Likewise in the 1881 Census. Shown on the 1887 25″ Town Plan, although called Webber’s Buildings. Probably designated Number 18 Court, West Street. Still shown on the 1930 OS Map, and photographed from above in 1932 (Britian from Above EPW039924). Not mentioned in the 1937 Whitby Light and Lane Directory, implying demolition by this time.
Butleigh Close: Part of the later southern phase of the Sydenham estate. Still open fields in 1953 (BFA: EAW051177). Shown on the 1967 Town Guide Plan. The village of Butleigh is not far from Glastonbury. The name means ‘Budecca’s grove or meadow’